Remote Programming

once upon a time, we have a dvd player without a remote, and also it doesn't have many buttons on the front. we wanted to watch the fourth or fifth selection on a dvd in a series, but there is not a fast forward button. we decided to try to program the remote we had to control the dvd player--it is a universal remote after all. we followed the directions the first time, but alas, we missed the last step, and it wasn't working after we thought we had programmed it. so, we decided to try one more time, and success! it was a big deal. a really big deal. a ridiculously big deal. there was much celebrating.

Second Blog

be excited. be very excited.

i decided to start a second blog. i need to take some time to prepare for it, so i am not giving out the link to it yet, but it will be coming fairly soon...ish... it will be a cooking blog, based on the beginnings of my cookbook and further adventures in the kitchen. it will be delicious. this way, i can separate my daily happenings from food. i'm honestly curious, will you be able to use this second blog? will it be helpful to you? please vote and let me know (the poll should be to the right). i promise i won't be offended no matter what you vote. here is a little preview of what you might find on this up and coming blog:

I came across this recipe on the internet over the holidays when looking for something to make in celebration of not only the holidays, but also the end of the semester. I was struggling because I wanted something chocolate, but I didn't have any chocolate chips, which almost all chocolate recipes called for. This asked for only ingredients that I had on hand already, and took about 15 minutes to make. I put it in the fridge to speed up the cooling process. It came out super delicious. Great last minute dessert idea!

SUPER EASY FUDGE

* 3 2/3 cups powdered sugar
* 1/2 cup cocoa
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 tablespoon vanilla
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Combine milk, butter, and cocoa in a microwavable bowl. Microwave until the butter is melted. Mix together. Mix in powdered sugar. Stir until smooth. Blend in vanilla and pecans.Spread into a buttered 8-inch square pan. Cool and cut into squares.

Food is what it's all about

generally, i'm a fan of short blog posts--i think they are less intimidating. i know i'm a bajillion times more likely to read a post if it's short. (also, i'm a bajillion times more likely to write it if it's short...) however, this post may be a little bit long, so it's up to you whether you want to read it or not. but, if you're intimidated and don't want to read it, i won't be offended. you'll just miss out. and on that note, i'll move on to the real content here.

let's play a day in the life. it's 3:15 am, and my alarm is going off for the first time of three or four times. sometimes i hear it, sometimes i don't. if i hear it, i get up and get ready for work (pull my hair up, change into jeans, put on socks and shoes and eat breakfast). if i don't really hear it, generally i wake up about 3:45 or 3:50 and then get ready minus breakfast. if i heard my alarm i leave at 3:42 and walk to work. if i don't hear my alarm i leave as soon as humanly possible and drive to work. work starts at 4. i clean. sometimes i work with someone else, sometimes i work by myself. i prefer working with people. most of my co-workers are really fun to chat with at 4 in the morning. the ones who aren't...well, it's because they don't like to chat at 4 in the morning, and who can blame them? i clean classrooms or labs for the two and a half hours, and then work on entry glass and some other random project that changes from day to day. now it's 7:30 and i'm clocking out. i return to my apartment, eat breakfast (i don't eat much before work if i do eat before work) and decide i'm going to be productive this morning. then, i am productive for a little while--an hour or two, but i almost always fall asleep, which frustrates me to no end when i wake up. after my morning nap, it's about 11. i shower and get myself ready for the day, then i eat lunch before heading off to school. i have accounting from 12:30-2. after class i make my way up to my dad's office to study. i take the post class quiz for accounting and then work on preparation for the next class period. following that, if there's still time, i work on homework or reading for my next class, java programming. then i go to that class which takes place from 4:00-5:15. generally, i go back to my dad's office for a while to finish up homework for that class before heading home for the night, usually around six or so. dinner is always the first thing on my mind when i get home...food is a central part of my life. i either cook something nice, or i make a quesadilla or pasta-roni. usually while eating i watch the news, which makes me feel connected to the world again. after i finish my food i decide whether i should make something for tomorrow (something like tortillas or muffins usually--things i always keep on hand, but use enough that i run out frequently). if i have more homework, i work on that. if i don't do either of those two things, i just hang out with my roommates or clean things. if my roommates are doing fun and exciting things, i probably will stay up too late with them and then go to bed, praying that i'll get up on time in the morning. otherwise i make it to bed fairly early, by about nine usually...sometimes by seven thirty or eight if i'm really tired. and then the cycle repeats.

now that i've written that out, i realized that my life sounds really boring. i promise it isn't. i do exciting things with my roommates, and conversation at work is always interesting. for example, today, one of my co-workers and i decided that when summer term starts, since we both won't be going to school (most likely) we are going to have kitchen adventures and create the most amazing college cookbook ever. well, actually it was more like, we'll finish the-most-amazing-college-cookbook-ever that i started during christmas break. we have lots of good ideas, so you should be excited. that's all i'm saying.

i love my life, and i think it's pretty great.

Potato Chips

last night, i found myself at the dollar store taking advantage of 88 cent tuesday. everything in the store is 88 cents! you can't beat it...you really can't. i ended up with a bag of potato chips (i may have gone before eating dinner). on this bag of potato chips is the most hilarious warning ever:

WARNING: This product contains acrylamide, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity. Acrylamide is not added to the products, but is created by browning potatoes. The FDA does not recommend that people stop eating browned potatoes.

the subtext there? 'califorina, please get over yourself--known to you, everything causes cancer. this warning label is a joke, and you're ridiculous for making us put it here.'

i never knew a warning label could sound so sarcastic. and the chips were delicious--it's a win-win.

As promised:

(yes, i know i look gross--i had been asleep for 5 hours previous to this picture.)

That's my kitchen, and that's a wookie

picture to come...BUT...

once upon a time i fell asleep on my couch at 7 at night. i woke up at 12:30 to a knock on the door, and when my roommates answered it, in walked a wookie. chewbacca. i still don't know why. we all took pictures with him. it was exciting :) it took me a long time to believe i wasn't dreaming, but they convinced me. and the picture proof the next morning helped.

it kind of reminded me of that time there was a llama in the road...

like i said, picture to come...

Boat Racing

the streets by my apartment were flooding. we weren't sure why at first, but then we came to realize that the fire hydrants were being tested. this was continuing on throughout the day, and at about 7 at night, the guys across the street come running and knocking at our door, "get a boat together, quick! we're having a race in the gutters." we scrambled around for about three seconds, and ended up with a cup taped to a pencil. the race was on. the pencil didn't stay taped on for long, but in the end of the first race, our cup came in first, and our pencil in second. the U.S.S. Awesomer was the champion of the gutter race! and here it is, displayed on our fridge.